A SENATE Finance Subcommittee on Tuesday endorsed the Office of the Vice-President’s (OVP) proposed P785.20-million budget for 2027, 11.67% lower than its P899.23-million allocation this year.
Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, approved the budget after Senator Maria Imelda R. Marcos moved to endorse it and Senator Christopher Lawrence T. Go seconded the motion. No senators objected.
The senators extended parliamentary courtesy to the OVP, limiting their questions to its decision to seek a lower allocation for 2027.
In a post-hearing interview, Mr. Ejercito said the OVP’s decision to scale down its budget was a “big thing” given the government’s limited fiscal space.
Zuleika T. Lopez, OVP chief of staff, said the lower allocation reflected the recalibration of its programs.
“This year, we’re concentrating on monitoring and evaluation and checking if [our outreach programs] actually have made an impact,” she said.
OVP Director for Operations Norman B. Baloro said its flagship PagbaBAGo: A Million Learners and Trees Campaign was expected to reach its target of 1 million student beneficiaries nearly two years ahead of its 2028 deadline.
The OVP’s Libreng Sakay program is expected to serve its 4 millionth passenger within the next two weeks, Ms. Lopez added.
Senate President Sherwin T. Gatchalian said the lower allocation showed the OVP was spending “as efficiently and as wisely as possible.”
Mr. Gatchalian asked why Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio was absent, noting that she attended the OVP’s budget hearings last year.
“Traditionally, when budget deliberations are held, the head of office comes here to defend their budget,” he said.
Ms. Lopez told Mr. Gatchalian that Ms. Duterte was representing former President Rodrigo R. Duterte at the inurnment of a long-serving city planner in Davao City.
Ms. Marcos urged her colleagues to extend parliamentary courtesy to Executive officials, including the President and Vice-President, as they do to officials appearing before the House of Representatives.
Mr. Gatchalian said he hoped Ms. Duterte would attend the plenary session to defend the OVP’s proposed budget.
Ms. Lopez declined to provide further details about the Vice-President’s whereabouts or the proposed budget when reporters asked after the hearing. She said only that the country’s second-highest official was “very well.” — Francessca S. Abalos